


Second Chance

by sublime42



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Crying, Diapers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Needy!klaus, Non-Sexual Age Play, Sad!Klaus, Sickfic, Vomiting, brother!Ben, brother!Diego, dad!Luther, little!Klaus, mom!Allison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-13 13:46:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18032882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sublime42/pseuds/sublime42
Summary: Since stopping the apocalypse, the Hargreeves siblings have moved back in together and have been taking care of their very little brother, Klaus.(Non-sexual age play story, don't like it, don't read it).





	1. An Overview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An overview of the family's dynamics.

After stopping the apocalypse, most of the Hargreeves siblings had come back to the mansion. They'd done some work on it, fixing it up more to their liking, with Luther and Allison having their own room, and Klaus and Five having larger living spaces. Diego had a room, too, for the days when he felt like crashing there, as did Vanya, but she rarely came by. Having Pogo around - they'd been able to save him when they'd traveled back - made things run even more smoothly.

For the first time in his life, Klaus enjoyed living there. The age play that he'd begun to engage in with his siblings helped with that, too. It made him feel relaxed, happy, and like he finally had people he could trust to care for him. And for his brothers and sisters, it seemed like a second chance at having a loving family.

00

Luther and Allison were most like Klaus' parents. Allison, having her own biological daughter, seemed to dote on Klaus more than anyone. She had been the one to convince Luther to allow Klaus to sleep in their bed after he had particularly bad nightmares.

Luther was like a strict but loving father. He didn't tolerate bad behavior, but he was always there to guide Klaus during hard times, and always there to help Klaus when he needed it. When Klaus felt particularly sad or hurt or upset, Luther would take him aside and talk to him. He took Klaus on walks and bike rides and to the park to play. They'd work through Klaus' problems together. 

And when Klaus was feeling particularly little, it was Luther and Allison who really cared for him. Fed him, dressed him, changed him. It'd taken Luther a little while to come around to it, but once he had, he'd jumped right in, often being the one to anticipate Klaus' needs long before even Klaus himself noticed them.

00

Diego and Ben were like Klaus' cool other brothers. Diego was more of the fun loving type. He'd take Klaus to a movie, or to the gym, and he'd show him how to box. If Klaus felt very small, they'd stay in and watch cartoons, and Diego would Klaus bring candy and soda (much to Luther and Allison's chagrin - they were the ones who had to deal with sugar crazy Klaus after Diego left).

Ben couldn't really take Klaus places, but they often spent time in Klaus' room, talking and playing board games. When Klaus couldn't sleep, but when he felt too big to go see Luther and Allison, Ben would sit on the edge of his bed and rub his back until he drifted off.

00

Five and Vanya could best be described as Klaus' wacky uncle and aunt. Though he looked very young, Five had seen a great deal, and he took pleasure in telling Klaus stories about the different places and times to which he had traveled. He always left out the disturbing parts and the stories were always fantastic. Klaus often wondered if they were real or not. Anything was possible, wasn't it? Maybe Five really had traveled three thousand years in the past and had seen an actual fire breathing dragon. Maybe they existed back then but had gone extinct. Or not. Klaus wasn't really sure, but he liked to believe the stories were real.

Vanya wasn't as talkative. Sometimes she would let Klaus sit and listen to her play, and she would answer his questions, but she was typically quiet. She'd help him if necessary, but they weren't particularly close. Sometimes, though, if Klaus was very tired, and Ben couldn't help him, and Luther and Allison weren't there, he'd go get her, and she'd sit near his bed and play beautiful songs that would help lull him to sleep.

00

And then there was Pogo and Mom.

Pogo was like a first time grandfather who loved the idea of having a grandchild and wanted to spoil them rotten. He may have been strict when Klaus was big, but when he was in his little head space, he could get away with anything. Drawing on the wall? Well, Pogo didn't love it, but he'd clean it up later. Brownies for dinner? Well, life is short, why not eat dessert first? He provided the biggest and best presents on birthdays and at Christmas, too.

Mom was like a grandma, but not. Klaus couldn't really categorize her. If he wanted brownies for dinner, and Pogo said yes, she'd make them, but she'd quote nutritional facts about it, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was talking to someone who was mentally four or five. But, if Klaus got sick, she was the one who'd care for him, making sure that he took his medicine, that he had soup to eat and that his favorite stuffed animal, Gio the bear, was always nearby.


	2. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Klaus' birthday.

Today was the big day. Klaus’ favorite day of the whole year. The one day where everything was really _all about him_ : his birthday.

He was turning 32, but that morning he woke up feeling closer to five. 

Klaus stretched and rubbed his eyes before standing up. Ben was standing in the corner, smiling at him.

“Happy birthday!” Ben said, watching as Klaus carefully picked up Gio from his abandoned nest of blankets. The boy held it to his chest and smiled back.

“Thank you!” He answered, grinning. 

“It’s only six am, though. Everyone else might be sleeping.”

Klaus rolled his eyes. If they were sleeping, he’d wake them up. It was his special day after all.

00

It was the feeling of the bed moving that woke Luther, and the feeling of Klaus’ foot hitting her in the leg that woke Allison. The boy was jumping up and down excitedly, stuffed bear still in his arms.

“LUTHER! ALLISON!” He yelled, continuing to jump. “WAKE UP!”

Luther groaned and sat up while Allison cracked her eyes open.

“Klaus,” Luther replied, shaking his head, “Stop bouncing.”

Klaus pouted.

“But it’s my birthday! I’ll stop if you guys wake up.”

Allison sighed. The kid wouldn’t give up on this one, she knew it. Tired as they both were, it was easier just to give him the attention that he wanted. She grabbed him by the leg, pulling him down to the mattress. He yelped, but quickly moved to snuggle with her when she opened her arms. Luther soon moved in closer, rubbing Klaus’ back.

“Happy birthday, Klaus,” Luther told him. 

“Yes, happy birthday,” Allison repeated. 

Klaus didn’t answer. He was too busy basking in the affection that his surrogate parents were giving him. Snuggles were the best, especially with Allison. But then, her hand moved to his stomach, and suddenly -

Klaus started laughing hysterically as she began to tickle him, Luther joining in. 

“S-t-t-o-p-p!” He begged, nearly in tears from laughing so hard. 

“Nope! You woke us up early, so you face the consequences. What do you say, Luther? Another ten seconds of tickles sound fair?”

“Sounds fair to me,” Luther answered.

00

A few minutes later, after Klaus recovered from being tickled for so long, the three emerged from the bedroom to get breakfast. Klaus led the way, babbling about how he wanted pancakes with frosting and sprinkles and chocolate chips, but he stopped short when he reached the dining room.

The whole thing was decked out with streamers, balloons and even a banner reading ‘Happy Birthday Klaus’.

Klaus’ eyes grew wide as he noticed that Diego, Vanya and Five were all sitting at the table, smiling at him. 

“Happy birthday!” The three chorused. 

“Thank you!” Klaus responded, running up to his seat. There was a bright purple balloon tied to it, and it had fancy ribbons on it. He wondered if he could tie the ribbons into his hair later, to look extra fabulous.

“Sit down,” Diego urged. “Mom’s working on a special breakfast.”

“Pancakes with frosting and sprinkles and chocolate?!” Klaus asked.

“Pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles,” Mom replied, as she walked into the room. “We used the last of the frosting on a cake for later.”

Klaus shrugged. Whipped cream was just as good. 

Mom put the plate in front of him, watching as Luther moved to cut the pancakes up. Klaus could use a fork, but he had trouble cutting things when he was so small. He sighed as he took his first bite, loving the sugary taste.

“Soooo good,” he said, shoveling another bite into his mouth. 

“Enjoy it, Klaus. You’ll need the energy for today,” Pogo said, as he helped bring plates of food for the others. Their fare was healthier, but still quite tasty as always.

“What are we doing today?” Klaus questioned. All he’d been told was that there was a surprise for him, but no one would even give him a hint. The wait had nearly killed him.

“You’ll see, my boy,” Pogo told him.

Klaus frowned, but it was hard for him to look too sad with whipped cream on his chin and nose.

“Come onnnn, it’s already my birthday! I wanna know!”

His siblings looked at each other.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Diego said, “I promise you’ll like it.”

00

It took another hour to get Klaus ready to leave. Luther and Allison had to get him dressed and cleaned up, which was often easier said than done. Klaus was very particular about his outfits, and he’d insisted on wearing one of Allison’s skirts that day. She’d had to dig through her closet to find the exact one he wanted - an old pink number that she hadn’t worn in years. He wore a white shirt on top of it, and a pair of black combat boots beneath it. It didn’t exactly match, but somehow he managed to pull it off.

When he was finally done, everyone met outside and piled into the van. Diego slid in behind the wheel and they were off.

00

Klaus was still amped up on sugar when they pulled into their destination. Upon seeing it, he nearly jumped out of the car.

“No way!” He yelled, pushing past his siblings to get out. “Let’s go, let’s go, come on!”

Pogo smiled as he watched the group make their way inside. He’d used some of the Hargreeves’ money to rent the place out so they had it all to themselves.

It was an arcade center, containing all types of games. Everything from video games to carnival type games was within. People could collect tickets and use them to buy prizes. Klaus loved the place, and it seemed perfect for them to spend a few hours at.

00

Five hours and ten thousand tickets later (the culmination of all of the tickets that everyone had won), Klaus walked out with a giant stuffed giraffe that he’d named Izzy. It was literally taller than he was, and he kept tripping as he tried to walk with it until Luther took it to hold it.

The sugar high that Klaus was on had worn off, and while he was happy, he was exhausted. At some point during the drive home he fell asleep. When he woke up, he was tucked in his bed. He looked around and saw that Izzy was sitting in the corner of his bedroom, Ben standing nearby it.

“What time is it?” Klaus asked, rubbing his eyes. He was still wearing his clothes, so he assumed it was still the same day.

“Around six. You had a little nap,” Ben told him. 

Right then, the bedroom door opened. Diego stood in the doorway.

“Hey buddy. Have a good rest?”

Klaus shrugged. He didn’t like that he’d missed a few hours of his special day due to something as lame as sleep.

“If you’re not still tired, Mom made a nice dinner for us all, and then we were thinking we’d have cake and you could open your presents.”

That quickly perked Klaus up. Cake and presents were the best! 

Seeing his brother’s excitement, Diego spoke again.

“Why don’t you take Gio and meet us in the dining room?”

Klaus nodded in agreement. He’d take Gio _and_ Izzy. It was only fair to include her too, after all.

00

Mom had made his favorite meal, macaroni and cheese, which everyone had enjoyed. It’d been followed up by cake. And not just any cake - it was the coolest looking one that Klaus thought he’d ever seen. It was huge and rainbow colored, and candles that flamed like sparklers sat atop it.

Once it was in front of him, the family began to sing “Happy Birthday”. Then Klaus closed his eyes, blew out his candles and made a wish.

Mom served him a large slice while Five began to stack presents next to him. 

Between bites of cake, he began to open them up. 

Allison and Luther had gifted him with a huge art set. It was something that he’d been getting into lately - drawing and painting - both when he was in his little headspace and as an adult. The set contained everything from paints to markers, colored pencils, oil crayons, and sketch books with various types of paper.

Seeing this, Klaus ran over and gave them each a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The look of pure joy on Klaus’ face was worth the research that had gone in to finding him the best set possible. 

Diego had given him a set of Disney movies, all stuff that they could watch together, and Vanya had given him a multi colored wall hanging that seemed to fit his style. Five’s gift was a little smaller - it was a coin, a very old looking coin. Five explained that it had come from ancient Rome, and that he considered it to be his lucky coin, and that he was giving it to Klaus now to bring him good luck all the time.

And then there came the gifts from Pogo and Mom: a brand new television for his room! It was big and shiny and Klaus couldn’t wait for it to be set up. He jumped around excitedly while Allison muttered something about him watching TV past his bedtime. 

The night was ended in the living room, where the family put on one of Klaus’ new movies - The Lion King - and had watched it together. As much as he wanted to watch it, the day had been a long one, and Klaus began to drift off towards the end of it. He sat between Diego and Five, his head resting on Diego’s shoulder. He vaguely felt someone put a blanket on his lap as he closed his eyes, his last thought of the day being about how good it had been.


	3. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets very sick. Thankfully he has people to take care of him.

Luther knew that something was off that evening, as he and Allison tucked Klaus into bed. He was in an even smaller headspace than usual, probably around age three or four, and he seemed to be exceptionally clingy. When he’d asked Luther to “pwease stay” in his adorable toddler-like tone, Luther felt that he couldn’t say no, so he’d snuggled into the bed as best he could and had held Klaus until the boy had fallen asleep.

00

The next thing that Luther felt was somebody hitting him. Klaus - Klaus was hitting his arm frantically. Luther sat up, realizing that he’d fallen asleep next to the boy.

“What’s wrong? Klaus?” He looked the kid over, noting that he seemed to be sweating. Suddenly the light came on, as Ben hit the switch. Now the he could see better, Luther saw that he looked extremely pale.

“Sick,” was all that Klaus could say to warn him. Seconds later, he began to vomit onto the bed. 

“Oh God,” Luther mumbled, stunned by how quickly this had happened. He did the only thing he could think to do and started rubbing Klaus’ back, trying to keep him calm.

There was no use getting a bucket at that point. The bed covers and sheets were ruined. 

Tears were running down Klaus’ face when he finally finished being sick, the dry heaves that came after it making his stomach hurt worse. Luther was trying to extract Klaus from the bed when Allison came in.

“Oh, man. I had a feeling that he wasn’t well,” she said, frowning. 

Klaus, meanwhile, was nearly bawling. This wasn’t good, he didn’t like feeling this way. Not only did his stomach hurt but his head and throat did too.

When Luther finally managed to get Klaus out of the bed, he carried him to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet. Allison had followed behind them and started searching the cabinet for a thermometer. Klaus sat there, curling in on himself, arms wrapped around his stomach as he rocked back and forth, the tears still coming.

“Shhh, sweetheart, you’re okay,” Luther tried to soothe him. “You’re gonna be fine. We’ll take care of you.”

Allison knelt down so she was at eye level with Klaus.

“Honey, I need to take your temperature, okay? I need to put this in your ear.” She held up an ear thermometer.

Klaus didn’t answer, but he didn’t argue with her either, allowing her to quickly stick it in his ear to get a reading.

“102,” she read off. “Maybe he has a stomach bug? Klaus, honey, can you tell me what hurts?” She reached up and brushed his hair from his eyes, wiping the sweat on his forehead away as she did so.

“Tummy hurts. Head and throat,” he answered, sniffling. Luther and Allison’s calmness had helped him relax a bit. If they weren’t too worried, he shouldn’t be either. 

As they contemplated what to do, there came a knock at the door. Allison opened it to see Mom.

“I heard Klaus vomiting earlier,” she said, “And I felt that I could help.”

“Thank God,” Luther mumbled. Mom was always so much better at this stuff. He moved out of the way so that she could take over.

“Klaus, Mom’s going to help you out,” Allison explained.

Klaus only whimpered in response.

After taking note of his temperature, Mom ran through the list of symptoms that Klaus had been experiencing, and diagnosed him with the norovirus. It had been going around, she explained, and he could have easily been exposed to it. Unfortunately, it was contagious enough that both Luther and Allison were apt to get it too.

For now, though, everyone’s focus was on Klaus.

“We should change his clothes and get him back into bed,” Mom explained, “Then he needs to keep hydrated. Water and Gatorade to keep his electrolytes up.”

Allison had just started peeling off Klaus’ clothes when he stiffened, then frantically began pushing her away.

“Go ‘way,” he hissed, pushing her back.

Stunned, Allison got up and watched as Klaus scrambled to pull his pants down and pull the toilet lid up.

“Okay, we can give him some privacy for this,” she announced, shooing Mom out of the bathroom.

00

Klaus was crying again by the time he was done voiding himself. He felt so awful, hot and cold and the same time, and weak all over. His head was spinning. He didn’t hear the door open and he barely had the energy to react as someone - Luther - told him to lift his arms. When he didn’t respond, Luther simply reached under Klaus’ armpits and hefted him up, allowing Allison to clean him. Klaus leaned forward onto Luther, too tired to do anything more than just lay there.

Allison had changed enough diapers in her life to not be easily grossed out by such things, and she cleaned him quickly and easily, flushing the toilet when she was done. She washed her hands and then turned the warm water on so that Luther could help Klaus wash clean up as well.  
Then he was carried back to the bedroom - the bed had been made up again with clean sheets and a borrowed comforter, and a changing mat had been laid out.

“Alright, you definitely need a diaper tonight,” Luther told him. Klaus merely groaned in reply. He was completely dead weight, forcing Luther to manuever him entirely to get the diaper in place. Then Mom appeared once again, holding several towels.

“You should line the bed with these,” she suggested. “In case he has an accident.” She handed them off and looked on as Luther laid them out on top of the sheets. Finally, she passed him a cold compress.

“Hold that on his forehead. It’ll make him feel a little better,” she instructed.

Luther thanked her and laid Klaus out on the bed, pulling the comforter up to his chest. He then sat on the edge and held the compress to Klaus’ pallid skin.

“G-Gio,” Klaus whispered, slowly moving his arm to look for his stuffed bear. It was some miracle that the thing had been spared earlier. Luther handed it to him, and Klaus began to settle.

00

Luther and Allison were exhausted by the time dawn came. They’d been up with Klaus throughout the night, holding him while he vomited and calming him as he cried. They’d both been plying him with Gatorade as best they could, but he couldn’t seem to keep anything down and was getting weaker and weaker.

Finally, it was decided that an IV would be Klaus’ best chance at getting fluids. The only problem was that little Klaus was terrified of needles.

It had ended up being a three man job, with Allison sitting behind Klaus to comfort him while Luther helped hold him down. Mom took hold of Klaus’s arm, somehow managing to hold it straight while he tried to struggle out of her grip.

“On the count of three,” she announced.

“One… Two…” And with that, she managed to insert the needle. Seconds later, the IV was hooked up. As she taped it into place, she spoke up.

“You did very well, Klaus.”

Klaus didn’t reply. He was too busy shivering now that the fear had worn off.

Mom left and soon returned with an extra blanket, covering Klaus’ body with it. 

“There’s some fever medicine in the IV, so it should come down soon,” she explained.

She had turned to leave when Klaus reached out, trying to grab her hand. Quickly, she turned around and took a seat near him, taking his hand in hers.

“Poor Klaus,” she muttered, “You must feel so sick.”

“Mmm,” he agreed, “Tummy hurts.”

Mom nodded and reached under the blankets to touch his stomach, slowly rubbing back and forth in an attempt to soothe him. A few seconds later he sighed in relief and began to close his eyes.

Mom looked to her other two children, who were clearly lagging at this point.

“Why don’t you two go rest. I’ll stay with Klaus for a while.”

The offer was tempting, but neither wanted to leave Klaus alone if he wanted them there.

“Are you okay to stay with mom, buddy?” Luther asked.

“Mhmm,” Klaus answered, eyes still closed. He was already nearly asleep.

00

Within a few hours, Luther and Allison both began to show signs of having the same illness. They quarantined themselves in their room and were forced to leave caring for Klaus to others. As Mom had other things to do, Five stepped up, telling Mom that he had faced far worse things than a little norovirus and that he wasn’t afraid.

So, he had spent the afternoon in Klaus’ room with him, telling him stories about when he’d gone back in time to the old west. Klaus half listened, half slept, his body feeling heavy and weak. 

In between stories Five fed him sips of Gatorade and bites of crackers, trying to get at least a small amount of food into Klaus’ system. By evening, Klaus was finally starting to feel somewhat normal again.


	4. The Worst Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the anniversary of Dave's passing and Klaus needs extra care. Extra tiny Klaus in this chapter.

He's gonna be small tomorrow," Luther said, as he lay in bed next to Allison. "I can tell."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. I'd bet money on it."

Allison smiled. "You don't need to do that, but I appreciate you warning me. Here," she opened the drawer of the bed side table and pulled out a small item. Within minutes, she had it plugged in and ready.

"Baby monitor," she explained. "The other one's in his room. This way we can hear him if he needs us."

00

Much to Luther and Allison's joy, Klaus slept until a decent hour. Sure, he woke up crying, but at least it happened at eight am instead of four or five.

Allison and Luther entered Klaus' room to find him curled up in bed, clinging to Gio. He seemed to be more whining then crying by the time they arrived.

"What's wrong?" Allison asked, looking him over for anything obvious that might be bothering him.

Klaus just looked up at her with big sad eyes.

"He's either hungry or needs to be changed. Or both," Luther said. Quickly and efficiently he checked Klaus over, discovering that he had been right. 

It took only a few minutes to get Klaus undressed and changed. He liked to fight whoever was changing him by kicking at them sometimes, but he seemed to not be in the mood to do it right then. Rather, he simply stared at the ceiling and let Luther work.

As Luther finished up, Allison gathered up an outfit she thought might fit Klaus' personality. She ended up with a pair of purple sweatpants and a neon t-shirt - things that were bright enough and would also be easy to get him into.

As she and Luther started to dress him, Klaus seemed to wake up. His began to struggle against them and quickly wiggled out of Luther's grip.

"Come on, Klaus. You need to wear clothes," Allison reminded him. 

"No want," Klaus answered. He was sitting up and clutching Gio to his chest, almost as if he wanted the bear to protect him from an unfashionable day. 

Allison rolled her eyes.

"Is it because you don't like the clothes?"

"No want," Klaus repeated, as if that answered her question.

"You need to wear _something_ , pal," Luther reminded him. "We can let you choose an outfit if you want."

Klaus just glared at them, then pointed at his diaper. 

"You have to wear something _more_ than that," Allison said, chuckling. Klaus was so damn serious about this that it was funny.

"No laugh!" Klaus yelled, still glaring at her angrily. It was adorable and Allison had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing even more.

"Okay, okay. I won't laugh. You do need to put something else on though. Why don't you pick out something you like?"

And so began a thirty minute escapade wherein Klaus tore apart his room, settling on the sweatpants in the end, anyway.

00

Klaus wrinkled his nose as Luther held a spoonful of oatmeal to his lips.

"Open up, Klaus," he said, bopping him on the nose with his finger.

Klaus shut his mouth even tighter and crossed his arms.

As this was Luther's sixth attempt to get him to eat, he was really at his wit's end. Just as he was about to tell Klaus to go hungry and not complain if he felt sick later, Diego entered.

"Problems?" He asked, looking the situation over.

"Klaus is feeling very small today and apparently very angsty and has decided he is going on hunger strike."

Diego rolled his eyes.

"Is that true, Klaus?"

Klaus simply nodded and continued to pout.

"Well then, I guess you wouldn't want any of the pancakes I was gonna make. You know, the ones with chocolate chips and bananas in them. That's okay - more for me."

Klaus stopped pouting instantly.

"You make?" He asked.

"Yeah, but only for me, since you're not going to want any."

Klaus' eyes grew wide.

"But...but..."

Seeing as the kid was about to cry, Diego spoke up again.

"I mean, I _could_ give you one, if you promise to actually eat it."

"Pwomise!" Klaus agreed, shaking his head. "I pwomise!"

Diego smiled. 

"Okay. Chocolate chip banana pancakes coming right up."

00

Allison was doing her best to clean Klaus off. His face and hands were covered in chocolate from the pancakes, but he continued to squirm, making it difficult. There was even some in his hair. She decided to tackle that problem during bath time later. For now, she just wanted him not to leave hand prints everywhere.

Whatever, she thought to herself. It was worth it. On days like this when Klaus was fussy, getting him to eat anything was a task in itself, and being unable to do it usually meant that he'd just become more frustrated as the day wore on. The food he had eaten had ensured a few hours of calm, at least.

It was a beautiful day and when she finished, she decided that it might be fun to take him to the park. Some fresh air would do the kid good. Diego tagged along as well, thinking he might get in some more quality time with his favorite kid. 

Thankfully, school was in session, so the place was pretty much dead. Having it all to themselves made things easier as people were apt to stare at Klaus when he was acting especially childish. 

“Swings!” He called out, racing towards the swing set. When his siblings caught up a few seconds later, he insisted on being pushed.

Luther, being the strongest, took that task, urging Klaus to pump his legs so that he could swing even higher. The kid giggled and shouted in joy as he went up and up, but then, out of nowhere, he let go of the chains. Within seconds he was on the ground, crying.

Luther, Allison and Diego rushed over to him and began to check him over, hoping that he hadn’t broken anything. In the end he only had a skinned knee. It shouldn’t have hurt all that much, but Klaus kept wailing like someone was torturing him. 

The whole thing was odd. Klaus’ mood seemed to keep going incredibly high then extremely low. Ultimately, they made the decision to leave, with Luther carrying Klaus bridal style back to the car.

00

Back at home, Pogo helped to clean Klaus’ cut, then they brought him back to his room. A quick check revealed that he’d soiled his diaper, probably around the time that he’d fallen. He sniffled and cried again as Luther changed him, despite Luther’s best efforts to be gentle.

He wondered if maybe a nap would help. Perhaps Klaus hadn’t slept well, and being overtired was making him cranky. 

“Wanna lie down together?” Luther asked, taking a seat on the side of the bed. “We can watch some cartoons on that fancy new TV you’ve got.”

Klaus’ lip trembled, and tears continued to run down his face, but he nodded in agreement, practically throwing himself at Luther as the larger man laid back on the bed.

“Here, honey,” Luther soothed, running his hand over Klaus’ back. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

Klaus clung to him, nearly lying on top of him, wanting all of the affection he could get. When Allison entered a few minutes later, she too joined in, sandwiching Klaus in between her and Luther.

Luther flipped to an episode of Peppa Pig - a show that Klaus seemed to love when he was in his toddler mindset - but no one was paying attention. Instead Klaus kept cuddling into Luther and Allison’s arms, sniffling as he tired of crying.

Soon enough, he was asleep in Luther’s arms. Luther noticed that he had brought his thumb to his mouth and was sucking on it, a new behavior for him.

Neither Luther nor Allison felt right leaving him, so they continued to lay in bed.

00

At some point, both of them fell asleep as well. When they woke a few hours had passed, but Klaus was still out.

“Something’s wrong,” Allison whispered. “This isn’t like him at all.”

Luther nodded in agreement.

“Something must be bothering him.”

Right then, Klaus began to whimper in his sleep. Allison rubbed his arm, trying to calm him, and the sounds stopped for a few seconds, only to begin again.

Then, he started to talk.

“Nooo,” he whispered, gripping Luther harder. “Nooo, please…”

Frowning, Luther began to shake him gently, trying to wake him up. 

“Dave...please…” came another small cry. 

It hit Luther and Allison instantly, then, what was going on.

“It’s October 15th, right?”

“Yeah… It's the anniversary of Dave's death.”

It explained everything. Klaus had woken up smaller because he needed extra care, but even that wasn't enough. His pain was still coming through.

“Poor boy,” Allison said. She carded her fingers through his curls. Feeling this. Klaus finally cracked his eyes open. They shone with unshed tears.

“Hey,” Luther greeted him. 

Klaus said nothing, but his arms began to shake. 

“Hey, it's ok. Cry if you need to,” Luther continued. “Get everything out.”

That was all it took for his tears to fall again.

00

Dinner was a quiet affair. Knowing that Klaus needed more help than usual, Allison simply heated up a bottle for him, filling it with milk, some cream and a touch of vanilla. After warming it she sat him on her lap on the couch, cradling him as best she could.

Klaus drank the bottle slowly. He was hungry but too exhausted to do more than that. 

When he was finally done she took the extra care to pat his back before allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder.

“My poor Klaus,” she said, holding him tightly. “I know today is such a bad day. But you're not alone. I hope you know that.”

Klaus didn't reply, but he definitely knew.


	5. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus goes to a sleepover at Diego's.

Klaus had been talking about the sleepover all week. He was going to spend Saturday night a Diego's place. It wasn't the nicest apartment, but he loved being there. Diego always made it fun. 

When the weekend finally rolled around Allison helped pack Klaus’ overnight bag. There were pajamas, a toothbrush, pull ups, and an outfit for the next day.

“Don’t give him too many sweets,” she warned Diego, “and please don't let him stay up too late. It'll throw his whole schedule off the next day.”

Diego did his best to reassure her that he would take good care of Klaus. He had the whole evening planned, and had carefully cleaned his apartment and set it up so it was more kid-friendly.

Klaus skipped out the door behind Diego, giving Allison a kiss on the cheek on his way out.

“Be good!” Allison told him. “And call if there are any problems!”

00

First things first, they had to have dinner. Allison and Luther tried to generally make Klaus eat healthy, but that wasn't something that really concerned Diego. This was supposed to be a fun night, and fun nights included junk food.

Diego pulled into the parking lot of a McDonalds and led Klaus inside.

“Get whatever you want,” he said. 

“Luther and Allison don't let me eat here,” Klaus replied, grinning. 

“Well I'm not them. What do you want? Cheeseburger? Fries?”

Klaus ended up ordering the greasiest burger on their menu, a colossal hunk of meat covered in cheese, fries and a milkshake. 

“Sooo good,” Klaus said, after taking his first bite. 

Diego smirked. It could be so easy to make Klaus happy at times.

Klaus enjoyed every bit of his meal. Mom was a good cook, but this stuff was amazing. 

When they finished Diego cleared the table.

“Are you up for a little workout?” He asked, as they walked towards his car. “Maybe we can try boxing again?”

“Heck yes,” Klaus agreed.

00

The gym was empty that night, having closed an hour prior to their arrival. Diego helped Klaus dress in shorts, a tshirt and helped him with his gloves and helmet. He didn't plan on getting rough enough with the kid to really need to use the helmet, but it was better safe than sorry.

The two sparred for a little bit. Diego showed Klaus how to throw a punch and how to block one. The kid wasn't all that athletic, so Diego mostly just let him win whatever matches they had. Klaus had a look of pure joy on his face when he managed to pin Diego down and win a round.

00

Once Klaus was sufficiently tired out, it came time to go downstairs. Diego unlocked his apartment door and Klaus followed him in.

The place looked much better than usual. Diego had set up a sleeping bag near his bed, and had put up a new television that he'd procured. The floors were swept. Even the bathroom was clean.

“Ok, shower time for you, stinky,” Diego told him.

Klaus grumbled something about not smelling too bad as he walked into the bathroom. 

“Call me if you need help,” Diego reminded him. 

There was no response but Diego heard the shower turn on.

By the time Klaus emerged, Diego had set up the couch. He'd laid out their movie choices and a variety of snacks. 

“All good?” Diego asked.

“All clean.”

“Good. So, we have a few choices here.” He motioned towards the movies. “We have some funny movies, a couple of scary ones, if you think you can handle em, or we have the Disney classics. It's entirely up to you.”

“Hmm.” Klaus looked the movies over. “I havent seen this one before.” He picked up a film called Coraline.

“It's a little creepy, but it's a good one,” Diego told him.

Klaus handed it over.

“Let's put it in.”

00

The boxing session had caused both guys to work up an appetite again. They shared a box of chocolate chip cookies and several candies as they watched the movie.

As the film went on, Diego noticed that Klaus was moving closer and closer to him.

“Too scary?” Diego asked.

“No,” Klaus answered, but he wouldn't look Diego in the eyes. 

“Hm. Well I know I think it's creepy. Maybe if you get Gio he can help.”

Klaus considered this.

“Good idea,” he finally said. 

Klaus ran and got the bear then sat back down, seemingly calmer having it with him.

00

It was past midnight when the movie ended, and Diego announced that it was time for bed. He showed Klaus the sleeping bag he had set up, and tucked Klaus in before settling in himself.

Diego had just started to drift off when Klaus spoke up.

“Diego?” Klaus called out softly.

“Huh?” Diego's eyes snapped open. “What's up, kid?”

“I can't sleep.”

“Oh. Not tired? Or is something bothering you?”

“I dunno. Both?”

“I see. Want to talk about it?”

Klaus hesitated for a moment before replying.

“Not really?”

“Ok. How about a story then? I can tell you about the time I time jumped with Five and we accidentally landed in ancient Egypt.”

Klaus happily agreed. It wasn't one he had heard before, surprisingly.

“So, we were only going to jump three hours earlier, but the briefcase overestimated and sent us back three thousand years…” Diego began.

Klaus listened intently as Diego went on about how they'd been chased by locals and had ended up in the Nile. By the end of it, all of his bad thoughts had been forgotten, and he finally fell asleep.


	6. Time with Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is gone and Klaus is alone with Ben. They talk about some of Klaus' feelings and Ben shows Klaus his secret hideout.

Everyone was gone.

Luther and Allison were in LA, spending time with Claire. Five had taken Vanya on a mission to God knows where. Diego was out with a new girl that he’d been interested in. Even Pogo and Mom were nowhere to be found. Well, they were still in the mansion, but they were pretty busy doing their annual mansion cleanout and they didn’t seem to want to be bothered.

So, Klaus was alone, aside from Ben.

00

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked, having watched Klaus stare at his television but not really watch it for several hours. “You’re not even paying attention to what’s on.”

“Huh?” Klaus glanced at his brother. “I’m paying attention!”

“And you aren’t amazed that Coyote _finally_ caught up to the Roadrunner?”

“What? Really? He never gets him. Hey, wait -”

“See, you’re not paying attention. Friggin’ Oprah’s on, man.”

“Oh.” Klaus sighed. “I guess I’m just bored? Everyone left. I miss them.”

Ben frowned. Klaus was getting better at telling people his feelings, but he always felt bad when there wasn’t much he could do to help.

“I know you do. They’ll be back soon, though.”

Klaus nodded, but still looked quite unhappy.

Ben couldn’t just sit there and watch his brother pout like that.

“I have an idea.”

Klaus didn’t bother to even look at him.

“What’s that?”

“Why don’t you make everyone something, so when they come back it’s a nice surprise?”

“Like what?” Klaus asked, suddenly intrigued.

“I dunno. You could draw them pictures, or paint something? I bet they’d love whatever you make. I can sit with you while you do it.”

“That might work…” Klaus got up and started searching through one of the bins in which he kept his art supplies. “I can make them cards to tell them how much I love them and missed them when they’re gone.”

“There you go. Maybe you can used mixed media, paint and markers and crayons or something.”

“Yes!” Klaus agreed, now becoming excited. He’d make everyone something lovely, so pretty that they’d never want to leave again.

He began throwing his supplies onto his bed and grabbed a sketchbook, ready to get to work.

00

“What’s that?” Ben asked, watching as Klaus carefully outlined a character on a piece of paper.

“Diego, but he’s gonna have a cool outfit.”

“I see. He’s throwing a knife?”

“Mhmm,” Klaus answered, deep in concentration.

“He’s throwing a knife at you…?” Ben continued, noting that indeed, the picture seemed to show Diego throwing a knife at someone who looked like it could be Klaus.

“Not _at_ me. He’s throwing it at the bad guy _behind_ me. He’s saving me!” Klaus flashed Ben a smile. 

“Aw, that’s nice.”

“He saves me a lot of times, when I’m really sad,” Klaus said, his voice lower. 

Ben nodded in agreement. More often than not, Klaus ran to Diego with his problems, because Diego was the one who would listen to him and let him talk things out, whereas Allison and Luther tended to ask a ton of questions and act like helicopter parents, worrying about Klaus to a point where it was annoying.

“I’m sure he’ll love it,” Ben told him.

00

Two more hours passed, wherein Klaus finished his picture of Diego (complete with Diego dressed in a tye dye jumper, which Ben had to smile at), and a picture of Klaus and Five and Vanya fighting off dinosaurs in the Jurassic era, and a picture of Pogo and Mom chasing him around the mansion.

He had just begun outlining a picture of two people, probably Luther and Allison, holding hands with a smaller person between them. When it came time to color the smaller person (Ben presumed it was Klaus), Klaus put his crayons down.

“Aren’t you going to color yourself? Give yourself a nice sparkly shirt or something?” Ben questioned.

Klaus huffed.

“I’m not sure.”

“Maybe a tartan shirt, then? Or tye dye, like what Diego had on?”

Klaus frowned again. 

“I don’t know.”

“Hm. What’s stopping you?” 

Klaus hesitated before replying.

“It’s… It’s dumb, Ben.” He began to put his art supplies away, but Ben stopped him.

“Nope. We promised we’d talk about how you feel, remember? What made you stop?”

Klaus looked at him sadly.

“You swear you won’t laugh.”

“You know I won’t.” Ben was being honest, he did his best to be serious whenever Klaus was talking about his feelings. It seemed to be one of the things that kept Klaus sober. He was able to get out the bad things he felt instead of numbing himself with drugs.

“You don’t think… They’ve gone to be with Claire. What if they like her?”

“I’m sure they’ll like her. She’s Allison’s daughter after all.”

“But what if they like her _more_?”

“More than you? No way!” Ben answered quickly. 

Klaus didn’t seem so sure.

“They were supposed to come home yesterday but they’re staying until tomorrow. And Claire… She’s… cute, you know. A real kid. Not like me.”

“Klaus, they’ve called you like, four times a day, every day. They wouldn’t be doing that if they didn’t care about you and love you.”

“I guess.”

“They’re staying a few days later to help Allison’s ex set up his new house, remember? Boring adult stuff. They really do love you though. Do you think they’d let you sleep in their bed if they didn't? Or that they’d tuck you in or take you places? You don’t just turn love like that on and off.”

Klaus nodded.

“You’re probably right.”

“I know I’m right. Now, finish coloring that card.”

00

After completing the card of Allison and Luther, Klaus decided that he was hungry. He left his room and headed to the kitchen, hoping that Mom might be around. She wasn’t, so he checked the fridge, finding three quarters of a pie that someone had left in there.

“You’re not gonna tell on me, are you?” Klaus asked, as he sat down with the pie tin and a fork.

“Nah. Just don’t eat the whole thing,” Ben warned him.

Klaus rolled his eyes.

The two sat quietly as Klaus enjoyed his lunch. Pie was much better than anything Mom would’ve made. She seemed to have this fixation on making him eat lots of vegetables all the time. They appeared in everything, even in smoothies that she’d make him.

He finished his meal in record time, licking the bottom of the pie tin when he was done.

“Ew,” Ben wrinkled his nose. “Come on, man.”

“What? It was good.” Klaus stood up to clean everything off, realizing as he moved that perhaps this was not his brightest idea. He sat back down, hoping that he might feel better in a few minutes.

“Told you not to eat the whole thing,” Ben said. 

Klaus just looked at him with his puppy dog eyes. 

“Dammit. I hate when you do that,” Ben told him.

Klaus’ lip trembled a little.

“Dammit. Okay, come on, I’ll help you hide the evidence, then you can go lie down.”

If any of the cameras were on that day, they would have seen the trash can opening and closing on its own while the silverware seemingly washed itself in the sink.

00

Back in Klaus’ room, Ben pulled back the covers on his bed so Klaus could rest. He then began organizing the art supplies into a neat pile so nothing would be disturbed.

The next few hours were quiet, aside from the groans Klaus would make on occasion. Eventually he fell asleep, Ben taking the time to look through some of Klaus’ sketch books.

A lot of the subjects were random. Things Klaus had seen somewhere, like animals in a park, or memories of missions they’d gone on. A few of the drawings were very creative, colorful ideas that had a lot of detail in them. He’d drawn monsters and heroes fighting them off, and fantastic scenes that looked like they were based on different planets. Some pictures were sad. Ben imagined that Klaus had drawn them when he was feeling particularly down. One was of a little boy sitting in a dark corner, seemingly terrified, his knees drawn up to his chest. Another was of the whole family, but with Klaus alone, off to the side, watching as they all had fun. There was one of Klaus and Dave, with Dave’s face colored in white with blue veins and blood everywhere. 

It made Ben’s heart hurt. Klaus had experienced far too much pain.

00

When Klaus woke up it was nearing dusk.

“How’re you feeling?” Ben asked him. 

“Better.” Klaus rested a hand on his stomach. “Not going to do that ever again though.”

“Mom will be happy to know that. Since you’re okay, I had an idea,” Ben said.

“Hm?” Klaus looked at him, clutching Gio to his chest. A sign that he was slipping down to a slightly younger age.

“Did I ever show you my super secret hiding spot?”

“No?” Klaus knew almost every inch of the house, so wherever it was, he’d probably already been.

“Well let’s go.”

Ben led him out of the room, down a hallway, and up a flight of stairs. From there, they entered Ben’s old room.

“This way,” Ben said, ushering Klaus inside. 

There was a crawl space behind one of the closets in the room. Ben motioned for Klaus to pick up a flashlight that was on the ground.

“Hopefully that’ll still work,” he said, as he got on his knees.

Klaus flicked it on and indeed a light shined out.

The two crawled along inside the passage for several feet, until they came to a small clearing. It was maybe ten feet long and ten feet across, tiny, but enough for both of them to sit in. A bean bag chair had been moved into the room at one point, along with several blankets, and magazines littered the ground. At the front of the room was a small window.

“How come I never noticed this from outside?” Klaus asked.

“Well, if you pull that lever, there are blinds that come down and make it look like a vent. I guess no one really thinks twice about it. I used to come here all the time when we were kids.”

“Wow.” Klaus dragged the bean bag chair closer to it and looked outside. The sun was setting, leaving a beautiful pink sky.

“Here.” Ben wrapped one of the blankets around Klaus’ shoulders. “Don’t want you to get cold. There’s like no insulation here.”

Klaus smiled at him.

The two sat quietly, watching the sun fully set and the moon rise.

“You know, you can come here anytime,” Ben told him. “Maybe you can bring some of your art supplies in and draw here, or you know, you can just hang out.”

“Thank you,” Klaus said, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.

Seeing Klaus’ eyes begin to close, Ben sat nearer to his brother and carded his fingers through Klaus’ hair. He placed another blanket over him, wanting to be sure that he was warm, and watched as Klaus slowly fell asleep.

00

Ben stayed for most of the night, making occasional runs back to Klaus’ room to get things he might want. He brought along Gio, and a bottle of water, and a pillow in case Klaus got uncomfortable on the beanbag. Towards morning, he left for a little while, wanting some time on his own, but fully intending to return before Klaus woke. But when he got back, Klaus wasn’t there!

Ben checked several rooms, finally locating Klaus back in his own bedroom. The boy was coloring feverishly in his sketchbook.

“I was looking all over for you!” Ben said, slightly annoyed. “I was worried.”

“Sorry. Here,” Klaus handed the picture over. 

Ben looked it over.

It was a drawing of him and Klaus watching the sunset together, Ben’s arm around Klaus’ shoulders. 

“I mean I know you don’t really have anywhere to put it, but I thought you should have it,” Klaus explained.

Ben grinned.

“I absolutely love it. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten.”

A few minutes later, the picture was taped to a wall in Ben’s usual corner, where he could always see it.


	7. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther and Allison have a big fight and it scares Klaus.

“Well maybe _you_ should have thought of that!” Allison shouted. “I can’t do _everything_ around here!”

“You’d have more time if you weren’t always on the phone with your ex,” Luther shot back.

“Excuse me?!”

The shouting was loud enough to wake Klaus from a deep sleep. At first, he wasn’t sure what was going on, but soon enough he could make out Allison and Luther’s voices.

For a brief minute he wondered if they were under attack, or if something horrible was happening, but no, they seemed to be going on about something else. 

Klaus had heard them talking about it, recently. Something about Claire needing extra help and Allison’s ex not being willing to get it. The result was long conversations between Allison and Patrick wherein Allison tried to convince him to hire a specialist or whatever it was that she felt Claire required. Klaus wasn’t really sure, he tended to get bored when she talked to him. Luther didn’t seem to like it much, but for the most part he didn’t say anything.

The fighting was new. In fact, Klaus couldn’t think of a time when he’d ever heard them fight. It scared him a little, and he curled further under his blanket, clutching Gio closely to his chest.

Something about it made his stomach hurt, and he began to suck his thumb in an attempt to calm himself.

00

The shouting went on and on, and then a third voice came up. Diego’s? He had been staying over lately, that much Klaus knew.

“Guys!” Diego started. “You’re waking the whole house!”

“Screw off,” Luther growled. “You’re not part of this.”

“You’re making me part of it. I just want to get some damn sleep!”

The anger in Diego’s voice made Klaus cringe. This was not good, not at all.

“You need to start acting like adults! I’m sure Klaus can hear you, you know,” Diego was saying, but then the sound of the door slamming cut him off.

Klaus peeked out from under his blanket, noticing that Ben had shut the bedroom door.

Maybe it was for the best. He didn’t want to get in trouble for listening. Apparently he was already in trouble for something, since Diego had mentioned him. Maybe taking care of him was causing Allison and Luther too much stress? He hoped not. The thought of going at it alone again was almost too much for him. 

Suddenly there was the feeling of someone sitting on the side of his bed. He looked up to see Ben.

“Hey. It’s okay,” he said, as if he could read Klaus’ mind. “They’ll get over this soon.”

Klaus removed his thumb from his mouth.

“My fault?” He asked, meekly.

“No, no. Nothing to do with you, buddy,” Ben told him. 

“Heard my name,” Klaus continued.

“Diego is upset because he knows that their fighting probably woke you up, is all. It’s got nothing else to do with you, I promise.”

There was the feeling of a hand on his side as Ben rubbed him, trying to soothe him.

“Close your eyes,” Ben said, “Everything will be calmer in the morning.”

Klaus took a deep breath, but did as his brother instructed. The feeling of Ben rubbing his back lulled him to sleep.

00

The next thing Klaus knew, it was morning. Late in the morning, at that. His bedroom door was cracked open, and he could hear soft voices outside.

“We should go wake him up,” said someone - Luther. “It’s almost noon.”

“He was probably up all night,” another voice - Diego noted. “Maybe let him sleep a little longer.”

There was a sigh. Someone was upset about something.

“I hope not,” Luther replied. 

By then, Klaus was on his feet, slowly making his way towards the door. He peeked around it and saw that Luther, Diego and Allison were gathered in the hallway. Ben stood nearby, watching them.

They heard the door creak - the place was so old, after all - and turned to face him.

“Hey you,” Allison said, forcing a smile. 

Klaus forced one back, and nervously entered the hallway.

“Did we keep you up, Klaus?” Luther asked, a guilty expression on his face. 

“S’ok,” Klaus answered. He didn’t dare meet any of their gazes. The thought that he might have inadvertently caused their argument, and that something bad might happen still lingered in his head.

“No, it’s not,” Luther said. He was frowning, now.

“I’ll be okay,” Klaus softly tried to reassure him. 

Luther, Allison and Diego all looked at each other.

“Maybe we should go talk about this?” Luther finally suggested. Clearly, no one really wanted to, but they couldn’t just leave Klaus looking so afraid.

“Yeah. Let’s go get some coffee,” Allison agreed.

She took Klaus by the hand and led him towards the dining room.

00

Now that the adults had some caffeine, things seemed calmer. Allison still held Klaus’ hand, an act that was beginning to comfort him.

“We shouldn’t have been yelling like that,” She began. “It wasn’t right, especially not where everyone could hear us. Where _you_ could hear us.”

Diego nodded in agreement, looking as if he’d won something hearing her say that.

“Allison is right. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're sorry,” Luther added. “We’ll try harder in the future to deal with our issues more quietly.”

“Okay,” Klaus responded. He gripped onto Allison’s hand a little harder, wishing that they’d reassure him moreso somehow.

“Are… are there any questions that you have?” Luther asked. 

“Um.” Klaus looked at his three siblings. “Was it… Did I do something?” He finally whispered. His heart was hammering. What would they say? Would this be the end of everything they’d had together?

There was a surprised look on Luther’s face. Allison’s, too. Diego’s, not so much.

“See? I told you he’d think that,” Diego said, shaking his head.

“No, honey,” Allison answered. “No, not at all! It had absolutely nothing to do with you, I promise. It’s just… Honestly, it’s a bunch of adult stuff that doesn’t really concern you, and you’d probably find it boring.”

“We’ve just had some stresses, lately,” Luther went on. “But we both were being dumb. _I_ was being particularly dumb. The fight wasn’t about you at all.”

The look on Luther’s face was sincere. Klaus glanced over at Allison, noting that she, too, seemed like she was being honest.

“Okay, good,” he finally said, a huge feeling of relief flooding him. “‘Cause I need you,” he added. 

“We need you too, Klaus,” Luther said, “We love you.”

“I love you too,” was Klaus’ reply.

A few minutes later, Allison made Klaus some breakfast, and he was released back to his room to have some time alone before they went on with their day. As he left, he overheard Luther speaking quietly to the others.

“We really have to try harder. For us, and for him.”

“We’ll do better,” Allison answered, “We’ll make it work. We love each other too much not too.”

And then they kissed, and Klaus ran away, disgusted by their sappiness.


	8. Bath Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's bath time and Klaus gives his siblings the run around.

“GET BACK HERE!” Luther shouted, as he ran down the hallway chasing after Klaus.

“NO!” Klaus shouted back. Being smaller and lighter than Luther, he was well ahead. There was no way that Luther would catch him.

“Diego! Allison! Someone! A little help?!” Luther called out. He’d just gotten up the stairs, but he didn’t see where Klaus had gone. 

Diego popped his head out of one of the rooms.

“What’s up?”

“It’s bath time and Klaus isn’t having it,” Luther explained.

“Ah. That explains why he just ran by naked, then.”

“Yeah. Help?”

Diego rolled his eyes. He didn’t particularly relish the idea of chasing the kid down, especially if he had no clothes on. But, someone had to catch him. Then an idea struck him.

“Five!” He pounded on the door next to his. “Five, we need some help!”

The door opened, and Five peeked out.

“Yes?”

“Klaus is running around naked.”

“Oh. Is he high?”

“Nope. In his ‘little zone’. He needs a bath.”

“I see.” Five thought the situation over for a moment. “Okay, I’ll help.”

A second later, Five was gone.

00

“Klaus!”

Five appeared in another room, surprising Klaus, who had been hiding behind an old chair.

“Agh!” Klaus screamed, “Five!”

“Yes. Now, you need to take a bath. Are you going to make this easy or difficult?”

Klaus frowned. There was no way he could get away from Five. He’d just pop up three feet in front of him. Unless…

“Fine, easy,” He said, his shoulders slumping.

Five smiled.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Klaus allowed Five to walk a few steps before he darted past him, running into yet another room.

00

It took another four minutes for Five to catch up with Klaus. The kid was out of breath by the time he finally did, too tired to try running again.

Five held his hand as they walked along and led him back to Luther, who was standing by with Diego.

“Jeez, man, can you at least cover yourself a bit?” Diego asked.

Klaus simply stuck his tongue at him in response.

“Alright, come on, let’s go to the bathroom,” Luther said, taking over.

Klaus pouted.

“But I don’t want a bath!”

“You _need_ a bath. You stink,” Luther replied. 

Klaus sniffed his armpit.

“It’s not that bad. Come onnnn,” he begged. “I’ll take a nap instead?” He offered.

“You’ll take a nap after the bath,” Luther told him. “Now, let’s go.” He pushed open the door to the bathroom. Allison had kindly already filled up the tub.

Klaus slowly plodded along until he got there, then slowly got in. He sat down and crossed his arms.

“I don’t like this,” he said. 

“Well we don’t like you smelling up the house, so here we are,” Luther answered. “Besides, there’s bubbles. You like bubble baths.”

“And Lucy’s here,” Allison added, holding up a small rubber duck that had devil horns on it.

“Ohh, Lucy!” Klaus exclaimed, grabbing the toy from her. 

He quickly placed it in the water and began making little waves to make it move.

00

Klaus talked to himself as Allison and Luther washed him, making a voice for Lucy and narrating adventures that the duck was going on. They’d gotten his body washed when it came time to do his hair.

“Ok. Eyes closed,” Allison ordered. 

Knowing the pain of getting shampoo in his eyes, Klaus quickly complied.

It only took a few minutes for Allison to finish, and then she and Luther helped him out of the tub and helped him begin to dry off. 

Just as Luther was about to help Klaus into a set of pajamas, the front door of the mansion opened. 

“Vanya!” Klaus yelled. 

And with that, he took off running to greet his sister, still completely naked.


End file.
